Begotten
by skygirl55
Summary: "Since our time together in that interrogation room, I've felt like you reminded me of someone. It's my daughter; you remind me of her." Caskett FFYG AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Begotten**

"Since our time together in that interrogation room, I've felt like you reminded me of someone. It's my daughter; you remind me of her." Caskett FFYG AU.

* * *

**A/N** \- This will be 3 parts. More details at the bottom.

* * *

Detective Kate Beckett shut her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. She was okay; she was fine. She could most definitely get through this latest case. It was no different than all the others that had come before it.

Except that it was actually different—different because of the fact that Richard Castle, writer extraordinaire, sat barely three feet from her at that very moment.

…And he was driving her absolutely insane. Worse: she was letting him.

The first time they met (which she was one hundred percent certain he did not remember and of course she would never remind him about) he had been charming and gracious. Despite the fact that she was three hundred and twelfth in line during that book signing (which she knew thanks to numbered tickets—not that she'd kept hers to use as a bookmark, or anything…), Castle seemed as friendly and kind to her as he'd been to all the others before her. She walked away from that even having a very positive opinion of one of her favorite authors. The prior forty-eight hours, however, had been eye opening.

The prior evening when she sought the writer out at his book launch party he had definitely been charming, but overly so, and with a flirtatious edge she was in no mood for. And, okay, since it was during his party, he certainly must have had several alcoholic beverages, which presumably amplified his coquettish behavior, but it had annoyed her when she was trying to do her job, and thus they had started out on the wrong foot.

Now, he was in _her_ precinct going through _her_ evidence and sticking his nose into _her_ case; the whole thing was entirely ridiculous! Yes, she supposed on some level it was nice of him to offer to assist the NYPD in going through his fan mail for potential suspects, but the fact that her captain let him was positively absurd. Castle did not have formal police training. He did not know what he was looking for, and he was prolonging the process by interrupting her with his inappropriate stares and glances.

Feeling once again the hairs on the back of her neck price, Kate looked up to see the writer gazing at her as though one might observe an exhibit of lions behind safety-glass at the zoo. "What?" she snipped at him.

"I'm just observing, detective; it's what I do."

His cool, even tone made her stomach clench in stanch protest. Was she being too critical? Probably. But she liked to solve her cases her way—and she got results, so what was wrong with that? "You're supposed to be observing these letters," she said, gesturing towards the piles of mail that lay in between them on the conference room table.

"I am," he said while casually picking up another document.

Kate huffed and then tuned back to the letter in her hand. Richard Castle—honestly! And to think she had even been a little bit excited when she realized that their crime scene was ripped directly from the pages of one of her favorite books, _Flowers for Your Grave_. That was back when she thought she'd be able to solve the case on her own terms—and what a silly thought that had been.

Skimming through the letter she held, Kate believed for a moment she held a real clue to the killer, as with each line the macabre factor grew and grew. She wrinkled her brow, lowered her nose a bit closer to the page, and continued to read until she flipped the page over to read the second part of the message…and discovered the first part—the creepy part—had actually been a story sent to the writer along with a request for a critique and advice. Huffing with disappointment, Kate tossed the letter into her "completed" pile and picked up another.

"Ohh—Oh, wow…that's funny."

Kate glanced up at the writer's comment. "Find an interesting letter?"

He hummed and folded his hands together, resting them at the edge of the table. "No, actually, I figured something else out. See, ever since our time together in that interrogation room, I've felt like you reminded me of someone, but I could not put my finger on it until just now."

"Oh," Kate said in a flat tone that did not indicate she was curious to hear the comparison the writer had come up with, yet he continued anyway.

"It's my daughter; you remind me of her."

Kate thought back to the red-headed teen she'd spoken to briefly the night of Castle's launch party and shrugged. "Oh. Okay." She turned back to the new letter in her hand but had barely red the salutation when Castle continued.

"It's been driving me crazy! Every time I look at you, there's just this…familiarity, but I could not put my finger on it until I watched you wrinkle your brow just then. Charlotte does that exact same thing when she's trying to figure something out. And…" He tilted his head to the side, studied her a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you might have some similar features. Definitely the same hair color."

"Wha…" Kate stammered, caught off guard by his last observation. "I thought she had red hair?"

"What? Oh—no, no." He smiled as he shook his head gently. "That's my older daughter, Alexis. I'm talking about Charlotte. She wasn't at the party because she's only two—well, nearly three."

Kate blinked at him, realizing that despite considering herself a "fan" of Richard Castle she had not known that tidbit about his personal life. "I see; I didn't realize you had two kids."

Castle hummed in affirmation then asked, "You have any kids, Beckett?"

"No."

"You want them?"

Kate clicked her tongue, now annoyed. "This isn't story time, Mr. Castle. If you're not going to focus on these letters, then maybe you should-"

"No! No I'm focusing; I'm focusing." Castle reacted like a student who was goofing off only to be chastised by the teacher. He picked up another letter, tucked his chin towards his chest, and began to study it intently.

Kate waited for a full minute, thinking he would break his resolve and interrupt her, but he did not. After saying a soft, "Thank you," to him, she returned to her pile of letters and continued to read through them, hoping for a clue that would solve the case.

* * *

Kate Beckett stepped off the elevator on the penthouse floor of a Broome Street residential building with great hesitation. She took a few steps forward and glanced around as though stepping on the wrong floor tile might send her plummeting into a pit of snakes. Really, it wasn't the building that unnerved her, but the fact that she was there to pick up Richard Castle and take him with her to their latest crime scene.

During the prior month they had certainly come a long way in their partnership. Naturally, at the beginning, she was determined to have a bad attitude, particularly with it being forced upon her by her captain. Slowly but surely (and much to her chagrin), Castle actually began to win her over with his impressive skills—and no small amount of perseverance on his part. As much as he could frustrate her—and drive her to the edge of her patience with his overzealous attitude—she had slowly come to appreciate him for the insight he provided on her cases. At least, until he tried to turn on the siren in her car _again_ then she was back to being annoyed with him.

On that particular day, Kate was sitting at her desk at the Twelfth precinct when a call came in announcing that the body of a young woman had been discovered when workers arrived at a construction site that morning. This would not have been that unusual or notable, except for the second part of the call: the body was frozen solid, when that night's temperature had not dipped below fifty degrees. Kate's very next thought was that Castle would love to get a look at that crime scene—and that thought immediately had her groaning. Was she really going to invite Castle to come with her when he had not already nosed his way in by showing up at the precinct with (admittedly delicious) coffee? No, that was absurd, she was _not_ going to do that—or so she told herself until she returned to her desk and thought of him once more. Then, she picked up her phone and called him.

The sheer glee and excitement she heard in his tone brought Kate's self-loathing to a new level. Somehow she knew he would become out of control with jokes or outlandish suggestions during the duration of the case…but she also knew that at least one of those suggestions would put a smile on her face and she supposed that was not the worst possible outcome.

After finding a door labeled "Penthouse A," Kate took a deep breath, lifted up her right hand, and tapped her knuckles firmly against the door. She then clasped her hands in front of her and waited patiently for almost a full minute before the door swung open to reveal a most unexpected sight. Castle wearing jeans and a red plaid button-down shirt that was oddly accessorized with a pink feather boa, a yellow woman's hat, and pearl clip-on earrings.

"Beckett!" He greeted her with a cheerful smile. "Great timing!"

"H-Hi, I, um, ah…what…what's happening?" she stammered as she observed and failed to rationalize his appearance.

"Oh." He chuckled and ushered her inside as though his outward appearance was completely ordinary. "I was just doing some in-character story readings for Charlotte; c'mon in!"

"Okay…" She said hesitantly as she stepped inside the spacious apartment. She had barely taken a few steps when the red-headed teen girl she'd previously met stepped up to collect the pieces of her father's costume.

"You remember my daughter, Alexis," Castle said as he handed over the hat and boa.

"Hello, Detective."

Kate's brow wrinkled as she looked at the girl and said, "Hi. Is…isn't it a school day?"

"In service day," Alexis explained simply. Then turning to her father she said, "Dad—the earrings."

"Right! Thank you!" Castle quickly removed them, handed them to her, and then ushered Beckett to following him into the living area.

Kate only needed to take a few steps before she noticed the little girl for whom he was dressed so crazily. She stood just beside the sofa, her hands clasped in front of her as she observed Kate with intense, dark eyes. Kate could feel the skin at the back of her neck prickle as she looked down at the little girl and then quickly back to Castle so he could do the introductions.

"This is Charlotte." Castle crouched down beside the little girl, put his hand on her back, and spoke to her softly. "Char this is my friend Miss Kate. Do you want to say hello to her?"

The girl continued to stare and said nothing, so Kate offered a little wave and said, "H-hi. Hi Charlotte."

Again, the girl stared for around thirty seconds before a nearly invisible, "Hi," escaped her lips.

Feeling like she needed to say something else, Kate gestured towards the girl's outfit and said, "I like your dress; it's very…colorful." In truth, the short-sleeved dress reminded her a bit like a Jackson Pollock painting, for it contained splotches of every color in the rainbow. It was paired with hot pink leggings and small rainbow socks, giving the girl quite an eclectic appearance.

Castle chuckled as he stood back up and smoothed his hand over the girl's head. "Yes, Grandma loves to find the most ridiculous dresses for sale in Manhattan, doesn't she, bug?" He smiled at the girl and then back over to Kate. "Of course, she usually finds something pretty unique for herself to wear, too. That way everybody's matching."

"Thankfully I'm finally old enough to say no," Alexis added as she breezed through the living area with a small pile of books in her arms.

Kate glanced over to her, a light laugh escaping her lips. "I'm sure. I…oh!" She gasped when she felt a tiny hand curl around her pinky and ring fingers. Looking down, Kate saw Charlotte trying to pull her towards the opposite side of the apartment where large picture windows gave an unobstructed view of the street below. "Um…okay…" Kate said a bit dumbly as she followed the girl's lead, weaving through the sofa, a coffee table, and several piles of toys.

When she glanced back briefly to Castle, he chimed in with, "Char, honey, what are you doing with Miss Kate?"

Charlotte didn't answer. Instead, she continued to lead Kate over towards the windows, where a group of stuffed animals and dolls were lined up on a window seat. Charlotte stopped in the middle of the pack, dropped Kate's hand, and then began to point out her toys by name.

"This Abby…This Baily…This Batman."

Kate could not help but chuckle at the sight of the plush Batman toy nestled in against all the bears and dolls. It was very much a "which one of these is not like the other" situation. Crouching down so that she was on the girl's level, Kate said, "Yes, I see that. Does Batman like to hang out with these two ladies?" she asked, gesturing towards the dolls, one of which had blonde braided pigtails with the other being a baby wearing a pink onesie.

Charlotte shrugged and swung her hips back and forth as she studied Kate's face.

"Actually," Castle began as he stepped up behind them, "Batman is one of Daddy's toys."

Kate turned enough so she could tilt her head back and look up at him. Quirking her lips, she said, "Why am I not surprised?"

He smiled back. "Char kind of claimed him, but that's okay."

"I see…oh—okay." Kate said when Charlotte grabbed ahold of her hand once more—that time hooking her fist around her thumb—and began pulling her towards a wall of bookshelves nearby. "Where are we going now Charlotte?"

"Sweetie, Miss Kate and I actually have to go."

"No!" The girl said forcefully in the loudest tone Kate heard from her yet.

"Yes, we do."

"No. Read." Charlotte commanded as she grabbed a book off the bottom shelf and held it up to Kate.

Kate took it asking, "Oh is this one of your…" Her voice drifted off when she got a good look at the book cover. She then looked between the book and Charlotte and Charlotte and Castle before her brow wrinkled and she aside, "Is this an atlas?"

Castle gave a helpless shrug. "Yes, it is. Believe it or not, that is Char's favorite book at the moment."

"You're…kidding?" She half-laughed from the shock but gazing down at the little girl once more told her that she was quite serious about the map-filled book in Kate's hand.

"Not at all. She found it in my office and really likes looking at pictures of the states. She can name a bunch of them too, can't you, bug?"

Charlotte reached up and gave the book a little shove saying, "Read."

"Charlotte, if you would like Miss Kate to read you the book, what should you say?" Castle asked in a fatherly tone.

"Read pwees?"

Kate felt her heart clench at the girl's adorable request; how could she possibly say no? Even if their body was actively thawing as they spoke. "Oh, um…okay. Just for a few minutes."

Walking over to the couch, book of maps in hand, Kate took in a deep breath and tried to remind herself that everything was going to be fine. She could definitely figure out a way to "read" a book of maps to a toddler for a few minutes… right?

Truth be told, Kate never found herself all that comfortable interacting with small children. She wasn't _uncomfortable_ with it—not entirely, anyway. She simply did not have enough experience to increase her comfort level. She was fine with school-aged children, as she had babysat several during her high school years, but the younger the child was, the less comfortable she felt. As a cop, she did have to force herself to become more comfortable with the uncomfortable, so she would not have said she was unhappy about the prospect of reading to Charlotte; however, she was very glad the girl's father wasn't going to be more than a few feet away from them.

Kate sat down on one end of the couch and Charlotte clambered up beside her, sitting so that her left leg was butted up against Kate's thigh. Once they were situated, Kate opened the atlas to a random page, thinking it wouldn't matter at all where they started since it was not like the book had any plot—or very many words. The page she opened to happened to contain a zoomed-in map of the United States focusing on the New England area. Kate had not yet even opened her mouth before the precocious two-year-old was jabbing her index finger at the page and listing states.

"Maine! New 'ampsur!"

As she had both correct, Kate glanced up at Castle briefly. "Told you," he replied, clearly proud.

Turning back to the little girl, Kate smiled. "That's very good Charlotte."

"We've started in the Northeast and are working our way west," Castle explained, taking a seat on the edge of the coffee table a few feet away.

Kate nodded then flipped through the book until she found a zoomed in section of the Midwest so she could review those states with the girl. "Okay, um… well there's Ohio. Do you know what color Ohio is?" She asked, placing her finger on the correct state and hoping that the girl was old enough to know her colors. A moment later, Kate had her answer.

"Blue. Dis one." Charlotte pointed to the state below Ohio.

"That's Kentucky. What color is it?"

"Green."

"She knows colors well."

Kate glanced up at Castle with a soft smile. "I can see that."

For the next several minutes, Kate and the young girl made their way through all the states below Ohio and Kentucky, but when they reached the Gulf Coast, Castle sadly announced, "Okay, Charlotte; it's time for us to go."

The girl whined immediately. "Noooo!"

Castle took the book from Kate, placed it on the coffee table, and then scooped Charlotte up under the armpits so he could hold her at his hip. "Yes. Miss Kate and I are going to go, but I'll be back later."

Sticking out her bottom lip in a dramatic pout, Charlotte said, "No go."

"Yes go. You be a good girl for Lexie and Gram." He kissed her cheek and then put her on the ground saying, "Please thank Miss Kate for reading to you."

By that point, Kate had stood from the couch, so Charlotte walked over to her, gave her thigh a quick hug and then said, "Bye," before running off towards the kitchen, where Alexis was sitting at the table.

"Um…Bye Charlotte," Kate said, not sure if the girl even cared much at that point.

Castle then grabbed his coat and lead the way out into the hall. As he pressed the button to call the elevator he turned to her and said, "I'm very impressed."

Bristling slightly at his comment, she responded with, "Why? You thought I'd be terrible at interacting with children?"

"No, no—not at all," he said quickly. "I'm impressed with Charlotte. She almost never talks anyone, let alone new people."

Kate's brow rose when they stepped into the elevator, for she had felt the girl acted quite age-appropriate (even though she was far from an expert). "Really?"

Castle hummed and leaned back against the elevator wall. "Mmhm, she actually sees a speech therapist once a week to help get her to vocalize. It's… gosh, you know it's so funny how life is sometimes." He dusted his fingers over his forehead, curious smile across his face. "When I found out that Char was going to be a girl I thought: great, perfect—I know how to do this, but it's incredible how different they are. Right from the start Alexis was bubbly and friendly. She talked to anyone who would listen to her and had some periods or moments of shyness, but not a whole lot. Char is… well, she's introverted for sure and—well, you've met my mother; introversion is a bit unfamiliar to us."

Kate let out a breathy chuckle at the memory of the interact Kate had with the elder woman when she picked up her son after she had him arrested for meddling in her case. "Right."

Just then, the elevator car reached the ground floor, so the two of them stepped out and Kate led the way out on to the sidewalk and towards her waiting cruiser. As they walked, Castle continued to speak about his daughter. "It's not that I don't love her, because, god I do. She's cuddly and kind. Loves animals. And has a smile that will light up any room—when she smiles, but she's…she's a tough nut to crack, that's for sure. She's smart, determined, and more than a little bit stubborn, but it's been hard to get her to open up, to talk, to be carefree. I think that's where I struggle most, because that's hard for me to relate to sometimes, but I… sorry." He shook his head and gave her a bit of an embarrassed look as they buckled up their seatbelts. "I'm sorry—this is probably going way deeper than you're interested in."

As she had not once thought that, she shook her head and said, "No. Please; I don't mind." Actually, she was rather enjoying seeing this different, more serious and down-to-earth side of him. "I don't have kids, so I can't offer any real advice other than to say that you're clearly a good father and you're doing everything you can for her."

"I am; I really am."

She hummed as she checked her mirrors so she could pull their car out into traffic. "Although, if you want advice, maybe I should get you in touch with my father, because that sounds a little bit like me as a kid."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. My parents used to say I was born skeptical."

He laughed. "I can see it."

They drove in silence for half a block before she added, "I did the state thing, too."

"What?"

Kate glanced over at him briefly before sharing the tidbit from her youth as she navigated their way towards the crime scene. "I was older than Charlotte…maybe about four? Or five? Right around kindergarten. I, ah, memorized all the states and their capitals."

"Really?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, I don't remember it—I just know my parents liked to tell the story because they thought it was funny."

"Well. Then I guess I won't worry about Charlotte since you turned out pretty good."

Kate didn't even have to look at him to know that he wore a shit-eating grin at his last comment. Grumbling slightly at his teasing she said, "Thanks."

"No, thank you for taking time with her," Castle said, his tone one of the most genuine she'd ever heard from him. "Like I said, she doesn't talk to new people a lot, so I'm glad she took a shine to you. Maybe…maybe you can come back another time—only if you want to, that is," he added hastily.

"I…oh, okay." Caught off-guard by the invitation, Kate stammered slightly at first, but then thought there would be no harm in greeting his partner's child, and maybe reading another page or two from the book of maps. "Next time I pick you up I'd be happy to say hello."

He smiled over at her and bobbed his head. "Thanks Beckett; I appreciate it."

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! And a special thanks to Lou for her help with the fic title.

This fic was inspired by something specific, but I won't say until the end so as not to spoil it. Those who follow me on twitter might figure it out though ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

Kate stepped up in front of the penthouse loft and knocked confidently. She then clasped both hands around the handles of the shopping bag she held and waited patiently for her partner to open the door. When a full minute had passed and she heard nothing, she knocked again and wondered if there might be a moment of crisis happening behind the door. From what she was hearing, there had been a lot of those lately.

The prior day, Kate had hit the ground running from when she arrived at the precinct at seven-thirty that Monday morning. She answered emails, prepared for a court appearance later that week, and consulted on another team's case. It was noon before she realized she had not yet heard from Castle, which was odd, but not unheard of, so she simply moved on with her day.

When she left for the evening without hearing from him, Kate found herself more curious than concerned. For the prior few months, rarely had a work day gone by without her hearing from him in some capacity, whether that was showing up at the precinct with a cup of coffee, showing up at a crime scene he was invited to, or calling or texting her asking about any open cases. The last communication type usually happened if they were between cases for more than a few days. Considering they were coming up on a week between murders, the fact that she had not heard from him was definitely odd.

By noon that day, Castle's radio-silence had officially begun to concern her, so Kate texted him to ask if everything was okay. As it turned out, it was not. Just an hour later, he called her to inform her that two days earlier, on Sunday, he had taken Charlotte to a park to play when she had a rather unfortunate—and serious—fall. Her elbow had been dislocated and she required several stitches in the palm of her hand where it had been cut open.

Hearing this story, Kate was immediately horror-struck and asked if there was anything she could do. He said there wasn't. Charlotte was healing as best as could be expected, she was just slightly miserable and thus very cranky. Hearing the weariness in her partner's voice, Kate offered to bring them dinner, but he politely refused. When she asked if she could stop by anyway, thinking she might bring a toy or something to cheer up the little girl, he agreed and thus her evening plans were set.

Before she left the twelfth, Kate searched the internet for the closest stores at which to purchase gifts for small children. As she was generally unfamiliar with kids Charlotte's age Kate hoped that perhaps a store clerk would be able to help her. Or, at the very least, she would simply by her a stuffed cat or dog; Charlotte seemed to enjoy both equally. Then, on the way to the first toy store, she passed a book shop instead and one of the window displays caught her eye and shortly thereafter Charlotte's gift was securely in her possession.

Kate was not sure if she could verbalize the connection she felt with Castle's youngest daughter. She had never before had the strong desire to hang out with any of her friends' kids (which, admittedly, was a short list of candidates), but she genuinely liked Charlotte. With each interaction, the girl seemed progressively chattier and more interested in her, which Kate believed came both from familiarity and age, as five months in toddler-time was certainly more dramatic then in adulthood. They had tea parties, talked to her stuffed animals, and even once played a board game at Castle's suggestion. Each time she visited, her partner thanked her profusely for her time and her kindness, which she appreciated, but found unnecessary. Interacting with Charlotte was strangely fun, and a welcome departure from the murderers she arrested on a weekly basis.

Just as Kate was about to knock again, two minutes after her arrival, the door whipped open and Castle huffed out, "Sorry. It's…sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she said as she stepped inside the apartment. The writer was certainly as frazzled and disheveled as she'd ever see him. His hair was far messier than usual, his black t-shirt stained with an unknown substance on the bottom, and the bags under his eyes were quite dramatic. "How are things?" He gave her a pointed look and she cringed. "That good, huh?"

"Well that depends: how do you think your skills are on the battlefield?"

She chuckled softly and held up the tote bag she carried. "I brought books."

Castle looked momentarily surprised, then relieved. "Oh, um, wow. Thank you. That's very sweet—you didn't have to do that."

Kate merely shrugged and said, "I wanted to." Then, after shrugging off her coat and hanging it up, she walked into the main living area to find Charlotte seated on the couch, her right arm in a purple sling. Kate felt her heart clench at the sight of her; the poor thing!

"Hi Charlotte," she said as she dropped down to a crouch in front of the sofa. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

"I bet your arm hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," came her sad reply.

Kate offered a smile. "Well I brought something that will hopefully make you feel better." She paused to retrieve the first book from the bag—the one she had seen from the street and knew would be perfect—and held it up to her."

The girl's eyes lit up immediately and she proclaimed, "Califor'na!"

"Yes, that's California," Kate said, tapping her finger against the oversized cartoon drawing of the Golden State. "This book is actually about a little boy and his family going for a long drive."

Charlotte scooted off the couch and grasped for the book with her left hand, commanding to Kate, "Read! Read!"

"Charlotte," her father reminded patiently, "what do you say to Miss Kate?"

"Read pweese!"

Kate smiled and said, "Sure I'll read it to you." She sat down on the couch beside where Charlotte had been sitting and waited for the girl to return. Much to her surprise, Charlotte did not return to her cushion, but instead shoved Kate's arms out of the way as best she could and climbed into her lap. "Oh—I…"

"Char," Castle jumped in before Kate could say any more, "Why don't you give Miss Kate some space?"

"Read," was Charlotte's only response as she pushed the book into Kate's hand.

Kate gave Castle a pleasant smile and assured him, "It's okay." Then, she opened the first page of the book, and began the story. "Okay, see this kid here? His name is Tim, and he and his family are about to go on a very long drive…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

When she heard Castle descending the stairs, Kate quickly stood up from where she had been sitting on the couch and turned to him asking, "Did she fall asleep?"

"Yes. Thankfully, though if the prior two nights are any indication, she won't stay asleep for long."

"Well here's hoping she does."

Castle held up his index and middle finger crossed then flopped down on the couch. Gazing up at her she said, "Thank you—thank you so much for tonight. You really have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"What are partners for?" she quipped as she sat down beside him. In truth, she had not intended to spend the entire evening there, if for no other reason than she did not want to intrude, but by the time she read Charlotte her new book twice (per Charlotte's request) their ordered dinner had arrived, and Charlotte had begged her to stay. Then Charlotte asked her to read another book after they ate, and by that time it was basically time for her to go to bed. Castle had requested that Kate stay if she could, and she agreed, sensing the writer might need a bit of adult company after his forty-eight hour seclusion with a fussy toddler and a teen girl, who was helpful, but busy with a school project.

"Not reading the same story multiple times and helping to clean up dinner, I imagine."

She merely shrugged and said, "Seriously, it's no big deal. I just felt so bad for Charlotte when I heard about what happened that I wanted to help. And I'm glad I came over, because you look completely exhausted. Is there anything else I can do?"

"No, no; you've done enough."

"I don't mind. Here—at least let me put these away." She hopped up off the couch, picked up Charlotte two new books from where they lay on the coffee table, and carried them over to what she knew to be the little girl's section of her father's bookcase walls. On her way back to the couch, she scooped up a few more toys and other little things that lay strewn about on the floor and began to pile them beside one of her toy bins on the opposite side of the couch.

When she returned to the couch, the writer gave her a weary, but appreciative look. "Thanks—really. It's been a long two days." He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "I know it's not her fault, because she was scared and in pain, but I'm not as young as I used to be, and not getting more than half an hour of sleep at a time is really wearing on me."

Kate reached out and rubbed her hand up and down Castle's shoulder, truly sympathizing with his situation. If she knew one thing indisputably true about him, it was that he was an incredible father. He clearly loved parenthood and dedicated himself to it above all else. Though he hadn't said, Kate could only imagine the anguish he felt at the time of Charlotte's initial injury, even if it had been a total accident. She was certain in the time since he had dedicated himself to answering her every cry and fulfilling her every need as best he could, which was why he appeared so exhausted in that moment.

"Isn't your mom around to help out?"

He shook her head. "She's at an acting retreat this week."

Kate pressed her lips together for a moment, considering another option. He had always been fairly open with her about his familial situation. She knew he had two ex-wives and grew up without a father, but never recalled him specifically mentioning Charlotte's mother, which led her to guess it was a touchy subject. Still, it was the only other obvious option, so she decided to ask the question. "And…what about Charlotte's mother?"

Castle looked over to her with notable surprise. "Oh—I didn't? Oh. Sorry. Charlotte doesn't have a mother."

Kate blinked at him as this information did not compute in her brain. "What?"

"I had Charlotte through a suggogate; she doesn't have a mother."

"Really?" Kate replied, genuinely shocked by the situation, as she had never heard of a single man having a child that way before. Adopting one, sure, but not through a surrogate.

He hummed, folded his hands together, and rested them on his belly while reclining back against the sofa. "Mmhm. After my marriage with Gina went up in flames I was really, really devastated at the prospect of not having another child. I always wanted a lot of kids…I'm crazy, I know—well I'm sure you're aware of how crazy I am. I grew up with virtually no family and I always felt…incomplete somehow. Even when I was in my teens I knew I wanted kids, and then after Alexis I was certain I wanted several, because I loved being a father. But after my second marriage failed, and with Alexis getting older…I guess I had a midlife crisis of sorts, but I decided I wanted another child, even if it wouldn't be the exact family I'd dreamed of."

"That's…so sweet."

He gave her a sideways gaze. "Don't sound so surprised."

"No, no; I'm sorry," she said quickly, giving his arm a squeeze. "You're a great dad, Castle—that much is clear. I guess I'm just a bit caught off guard since I did not expect you to say that."

When she really thought about it, the fact that Castle wanted a large family was not surprising. He clearly loved children and interacted well with them if they ever came across them during a case. He was kind and surprisingly patient with them. Always the jokester, he usually drew a laugh from their lips and genuinely made them feel at ease.

One of Kate's biggest regrets from the early days of their partnership was how terribly she'd misjudged him. She had him pegged as a playboy who liked to flirt and flash around the keys to his Ferrari. She found him annoying, overzealous, and a downright pain in the ass—and he could definitely be all those things, but that wasn't who he was. Richard Castle was kind, thoughtful, and smart. He valued his family above all else and had been nothing but a loyal friend and partner to her ever since they started working together and she'd let go of her stubbornness and pride enough to see it. More than anything, he was a very good father, and had two incredible girls to prove it.

"Hmm yes our path was untraditional for sure. I did consider adoption—both domestic and international—but…I don't know." He gave a little shrug and said, "I really wanted my own child, so I found a way to make that happen."

As she was not overly familiar with the surrogacy process, Kate thought for a moment and then asked, "So, how—I mean, sorry, I don't mean to be overly nosy but-"

"Please. Like I don't meddle in your life," he interjected with an easy smile.

She smiled back. "I'm just curious about how that all works. I mean, does the woman that had the baby ever interact with Charlotte?"

"She sent us breastmilk for three months, but that was the last I heard of her."

Kate immediately found herself uncomfortable with the idea of having a child and then never seeing it again. "Really?"

"Yeah. She had done this before. I kind of got the impression it was just a regular job for her."

"Before?"

"Mm yeah. She had two of her own then Char was he second surrogate baby."

His words made Kate realize her incorrect assumption and she gasped slightly. "Oh! Oh I'm sorry—I was thinking that woman was the biological mother."

Castle sat up and rested his hands in his lap. "Oh no; no. She was just the, ah, womb. Charlotte came from an egg bank—a donated egg."

"I see."

"Yeah. It's actually—oh." Castle yawned and quickly covered his mouth before muttering out, "Sorry."

"No, no I should go. Leave you be." Without waiting for another word, Kate stood from the couch so that her partner could get some much-needed rest.

He followed her into the entry way saying, "Thanks again, Kate; I really appreciate it."

"Of course. Let me know how she's doing tomorrow okay?" she asked. He confirmed with a nod, and then Kate bid him a final goodbye before walking out the door.

* * *

Kate paced the small space between the kitchen counter island and the main dining table while chewing on her bottom lip. Back and forth she walked, over and over again even though a single lap took no more than ten steps. She had to keep moving had to keep trying to get the nervous energy out. She rehearsed what she was going to say to him repeatedly in her mind, changing some of the words now and then, but somehow none of them seemed right; any and all iterations made her feel like a crazy person. He was going to laugh at her. Worse, he was going to be mad at her. That was the last thing she wanted—and it was the exact reason it had taken her nearly a week to get to this place, but she had to tell him. She _had_ to. Keeping him in the dark any longer simply wasn't fair.

When she arrived at the Castle loft that evening Kate's belly had been so full of nerves that she was convinced she would not be able to eat the dinner Castle was preparing. Then, just inside the door, Charlotte had bounded over to her, shown off the braid her father put in her hair, and then pulled Kate over to pile of toys so they could play. By the time Castle announced dinner was ready, Kate was too busy smiling to really be nervous.

During their meal, Kate watched with no small amount of amusement as Castle struggled to get his daughter to eat anything other than broccoli. Despite the roasted potatoes, pulled pork, and fruit selection offered to her, Charlotte was only interested in eating the tiny trees as she called them. Kate and Alexis both suppressed a laugh when Charlotte began to chant for more broccoli while turning her head away from the potato her father was attempting to get her to try. In the end, she ate one single slice of apple and more broccoli than any of them.

Despite that amusing distraction, Kate's nerves returned as soon as Castle went upstairs to put Charlotte to bed. The skittish, heart-protecting side of her wanted to sprint out the apartment door, but she refused to let herself. She would have the conversation she needed to have with Castle, even while knowing everything from that point forward would be very, very different.

"Okay—the munchkin is falling asleep as we speak," Castle announced several minutes later when he jogged down the stairs.

Kate let out a nervous chuckle. "Glad to hear it."

Castle hummed, grabbed his empty wine glass from the table, carried it into the kitchen and poured himself a little more. He offered more wine to Kate and she accepted, if for no other reason than to have something to hold and hopefully draw away some of her nervous energy while she spoke.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about? You seem a little…I don't know. Out of sorts? I hope there isn't something wrong." Castle leaned his forearms against the island as he gazed at her, curious.

She shook her head and leaned against the counter as well. "No, not wrong. I don't think. I…well, before I get into all this, I want to preface it by saying I was not trying to keep any of this from you—I promise. I just…well, I forgot, as insane as that sounds. It's…it's from a part of my life I don't generally think about a lot."

His brow knitted together as he commented, "Well, that certainly is an intriguing beginning."

"Well, it's from back when my father was still pretty deep in his alcoholism. Specifically, during my last year in college." Kate drummed her fingers against her wine goblet and shut her eyes, trying to collect what she was about to say. During their nearly eight-month partnership, Kate had shared a great deal with her partner. Far more than she had with any other man, as it happened. He knew about her father's alcoholism, her mother's murder, and her subsequent struggles to solve that case. The finer details of that time period weren't just things she kept from him, but from everyone. In fact, she had never before told anyone what she was about to say to him.

"Because of my father's disease and everything surrounding it we…well, there was a point in time where our family had a lot of debt. My father wasn't working, his savings were dwindling, so he took out some loans and…" She huffed out a breath and shook her head. "The point is: he tried to hide it from me, but I knew it was an issue as soon as I had to take over paying our utility bills. Coincidentally, around that same time, I saw some flyers on campus of a quick and easy way to make over ten thousand dollars. And I…I just saw the money. That's all I could think about. I'd already planned to graduate and go to the police academy, but how could I leave my father the way he…I thought it would be the best way to fix what was wrong without even realizing the co-consequen…shit. Sorry." She quickly apologized as several tears slipped down her cheeks without her permission. She wanted to get through her story without crying, but the tighter her chest became she knew that would be impossible.

While she tried to wipe the tears away quickly, Castle seemed to grow even more concerned while watching her. His voice soft, he stepped in closer and said, "Hey, whoa, Kate—it's okay. Whatever it is it's-"

"I sold my eggs!" she blurted out before she lost the nerve.

"What?"

"My eggs." Kate moved her left hand down to settle on her lower belly in case there was any question of what she meant. "I enrolled in a program that would pay me money to let them harvest my eggs. I…I was told that they could end up at a medical facility for research or if…If they were of a high enough quality, they could end up being used for couples who wanted to have children through a fertility clinic. I didn't care about any of that and barely read the paperwork they gave me. We just needed the money, so I signed every document they put in front of me, took the check, and never looked back. Until…" She squeezed her eyes shut and two more tears dripped out. She opened them again and spoke in a tone just above a whisper. "Until a few nights ago when I was dreaming about being here with you and with Charlotte."

Kate did not recall the beginning of the dream, or how she ended up in the Castle loft, but she vaguely remembered walking through a space that resembled the kitchen while hearing someone call out her name. The further she walked, she realized the voice belong to Charlotte, who was playing in her usual spot behind the piano. In the dream, Kate hurried over to her, but found her progress thwarted by the fact that she was suddenly pregnant. Her large belly hindered her movement and she could not get down on the floor to play with the toddler girl. Instead, Charlotte stood and started patting her stomach saying, "Baby, baby, baby."

Shortly thereafter, Kate awoke and wondered what would have caused such a peculiar dream. She rolled over in bed and tried to fall back asleep, and that's when she remembered the extraction of her eggs and the possibility that they could have gone to infertile couples or, as it happened, a single man in search of an egg to match with his sperm in order to create a child. Once that realization hit her, Kate did not sleep any more than night—or much of the following one.

"I'm not crazy—at least, I don't think I am. I don't know, maybe I am. I felt crazy until I saw the pictures and then, I just-"

"What—what pictures?" Castle asked, his eyes searching her face for more explanation in an almost frantic manner.

Kate quickly walked over to her purse and retrieved the small envelope she'd tucked inside. Walking back to the kitchen she explained, "I have a box of pictures under my bed. It's mostly full of ones of my mom and me—ones I can't look at because it makes me miss her so bad it hurts, but…but I knew that box had some pictures of me when I was younger, so I dug these out." She paused to pull two pictures from the envelope and hold them out to him. She felt the hairs at the back of her neck prickle as she pointed to the photos and explained, "I'm five in that one, and probably about three in this one."

"Oh." Came the writer's croaked reply, for even a novice could have seen the similarities, but to Charlotte's father they must have been positively screaming.

"I look just like her," Kate whispered. Practically from the moment she met the Castle family, occasional comments about her resemblance to Charlotte had been made. It was Castle himself who mentioned their similar hair color and brow-wrinkling. Castle's mother also commented on the similar shape of their eyes and cheekbones. Once, a woman on the sidewalk mistake them for mother-and-daughter. Kate brushed off all those incidents at the time thinking that Charlotte's biological mother was Castle's ex-partner. Even after she learned that to be untrue, she truly had not made the potential connection until her dream a week earlier. Ever since, she'd studied the photos and talked herself in an out of the possibility several doesn't times, but when it came right down to it, the evidence was clear.

Castle stared down at the photos for over thirty seconds before clearing his throat, looking up to her and saying, "Wow, um… I…I actually think you've rendered me speechless."

Feeling the need to break the tension in the room, Kate quipped, "I'll make note of the date." They were silent for another half minute before she began, "It could, you know, be a total coincidence, I guess. I'm sure plenty of people look similar and obviously the odds are astronomical. I—I don't even know if you have any information about the egg donor…"

"Um…not much." As his voice was hoarse, he cleared his throat and continued. "Mostly physical stuff: Caucasian, brown hair, brown eyes. She listed one of her hobbies as reading and her favorite sport was baseball. I figured at least we had those two things in common."

Kate nodded, took a small sip of her wine, and continued with, "Look I know I really sprung this on you and I'm sorry if it's too shocking or too upsetting, I just… well, I didn't really know how to tell you, but I knew I did have to tell you sooner than later because you deserved to know. If you want me to go so that you can process then-"

"No." He stepped forward and placed his hand gently on her forearm. Shaking his head he said, "No please; don't go. I just…I'm thinking."

She cracked a small smile. "Sure. Take your time."

He was silent for another few moments before he put the photos on the counter and leaned heavily against it with his forearms. "The thing is…when I decided to have a second child, it was only after months of thought and consideration. I wanted another child, I wanted to love them and take care of them, to give them a great life, but I also feared that choice would be a selfish one, since that child would never know their mother. By that point I'd been through my divorce with Meredith and seen how her absence stressed Alexis, but at the end of the day Alexis could still call her mother, could still see her. This child would be like me. I never knew or met my father just as he or she would never know or meet their mother. It was a really, really difficult choice, but I made it knowing that I would do everything in my power to make sure that child had everything he or she wanted or needed…and with the hope that someday I would meet a woman and marry again so that there would be a maternal figure in that child's life."

He took a deep breath, gazed down at the photos for a few seconds, and then back up to her. He straightened his spine, reached out his hand and held onto hers while he spoke. "This is… Please believe me when I tell you that as a writer, I have imagined many scenarios in my head. Some quite realistic, others so fantastical I knew they would never come true, but I never once thought about Charlotte finding her biological mother. Not once. The fact that you might be that person is … truly extraordinary."

Kate felt her cheeks flush from his kind statement. "Thanks, Castle."

He stared at her for another second, then dropped her hand and took a step back. Skimming his hand over his jaw he asked, "So what are you thinking here? You've obviously had a bit more time to consider this than I have."

"Yes, but, uh, it's still quite a shock. And…it's, you know, it might not be…I only have the pictures and the similar stories, but now that I've told you it all feels a lot more real and I—shit." She cursed again when the tears returned to her eyes. "Sorry—I'm sorry I don't know why I'm so-"

"Hey." He swooped in and wrapped his arms around her with ease. "It's okay. We're in this together, right?"

She hugged him for a minute and then pulled back, swiping at her cheeks with her fingertips. "I always thought my eggs went to science, you know? I never once thought they could have become children, and for the past few days my head has been spinning wondering if I have other kids and if they would ever want to meet me and…I don't know. I was twenty-one when I made that choice and I'd surely make a different one now, but I can't change it and…and if it's how you got Charlotte..." Her voice drifted off and she looked towards the stairs in the loft. She felt her heart clench at the memory of the girl's bright smile and heart-warming laugh. Looking back to him she said, "I suppose I can't be too upset about it either, because she's really, really amazing."

Castle smiled broadly. "I'm kind of a fan myself. So, you want to do a DNA test then?"

She nodded, seeing no other way forward for them. "Yeah, I do."

He agreed with a nod, then pulled her in for another quick hug. "Okay. We'll look into it tomorrow."

"Okay." Kate sighed and rested her cheek against his shoulder knowing that the coming days could be filled with a large amount of uncertainty, but somehow knowing with him at her side it was all going to be okay.

* * *

**A/N**: Thanks so much for reading & reviewing

Final part will be up on Saturday!


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3 of 3**

"Okay—okay. I'm here! Let's do this!" Castle rubbed his hands together aggressively as he stepped into Kate's apartment.

Kate chuckled slightly as she shut the door behind him. "Anxious, Castle?"

He spun around and gave her a pointed look. "Like you haven't been on the edge of your seat ever since you got your mail yesterday. Honestly, I'm impressed; I would have ripped open that envelope the second I had it in my hand."

She frowned slightly. "You wouldn't have waited for me at all?"

"I would have FaceTimed you while I did it."

At that, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay—you're right, I have been anxious to know. And nervous." She added the last point as a seemingly casual afterthought, but in reality nerves were her foremost feeling for the prior twenty-four hours. If, after everything, the DNA test did not show that she was Charlotte's biological mother, the blow would be devastating for both of them, especially after the prior few weeks. She wasn't sure how she would handle that crushing news. If, however, Charlotte was born from her egg, that meant that she was a mother—a parent—and that came with its own set of complex feelings.

For the prior six weeks, after making a game of swabbing the inside of Charlotte's cheek so a test could be done, Kate had spent a great deal of time with the Castle family. She ate dinner with them frequently and visited with them on her days off. She played games with Charlotte and read her mountains of books. They had finally reached the point in their relationship when Charlotte greeted her with an excited bear-hug. The last time that happened, just a few days earlier, Kate vowed to remain a part of the girl's life no matter the test results, but she knew that could be difficult pending the results and the fallout of feelings that would follow.

"Okay—where is it? Where's the letter?"

Kate led Castle over to the dining room table that doubled as a desk in small her apartment. Earlier that day when Kate informed Castle she had received the letter with their DNA results, they had agreed to do the big reveal at Kate's place if for no other reason than they did not have to wait until Charlotte went to bed (which Castle insisted he could not do). His mother was taking care of his daughter that night, which left them free to have whatever adult conversations they needed to have after the results were revealed.

"Here; you can open it," Kate said, holding out the white envelope to him.

He took it tentatively. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The word had barely left her lips when he clawed into the envelope, shredding it so aggressively she momentarily thought he might have also ripped the letter. He did not, though it was quite wrinkled when he unfolded it and frowned. "Wha—why are there so many charts?! Shouldn't there just be a big "Match" or "No Match" in the middle of the page?"

Kate smiled, glad the writer's ridiculous reaction had diffused the moment slightly. She stepped up beside him so she could read the letter along with him. After a moment of skimming, she found the line that made her heart jump up into her throat. "There. At the bottom."

Castle lowered his eyes to the spot, held his breath for a moment, then slowly placed the letter down on the table. Turning to her, the smile began to spread on his face from ear-to-ear as he said, "Your Charlotte's mother."

Kate brushed some hair back from her face, suddenly feeling her cheeks flare with nerves. "Uh, yeah; yeah I guess I am."

Without waiting for another moment to go by, Castle threw his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. She willingly fell against him, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his shoulder. She shut her eyes, and breathed in the scent of him, accepting for the first time that from that moment on they would be forever tied by the existence of the child that was theirs—_their_ daughter. Even if it had been expected, that notion was certainly a lot to take in.

After a minute-long hug, they separated, and Castle brushed his knuckles tenderly against the hollow of her cheek. Then he stepped back, leaned his rear against the edge of her table and asked, "So…where do we go from here?"

Kate let out a breathy laugh. "Great question."

"Well," Castle continued, "I've, ah, had some time to think about it. As have you, I'm sure. If I'm being honest, I still have not come up with a way to explain this to Charlotte in a way she'll understand. She's just too young."

Kate nodded. At three, she very much doubted Charlotte knew very much about the "traditional" way mommies and daddies made children, let alone her unusual path. "Where does she think she came from?"

"The stork." The writer smiled at the laugh that escaped Kate's lips and then he continued his explanation. "Seriously. I…I told her that all babies come from Heaven and usually they're picked out by a mommy and a daddy but in her case the universe knew I'd love her so much that the stork brought her right to me instead."

Kate smiled at the very Castle-like-while-still-age-appropriate story. "That's sweet."

"Thanks. Anyway, I've been thinking and…she already knows you as Kate. We could switch and say you're Mommy but is that what you even want?"

Kate felt her whole-body flush at the "M" word she still felt on the fence about. "I…I think so? I mean—I do; I definitely do." Kate dusted her fingers over her brow and started to pace as she continued to voice her thoughts aloud.

"Ever since we took that sample, I've been thinking about it, trying to, that is. Since I…since I've never had a serious long-term relationship, I never really consciously thought about having kids. I hadn't decided against it or anything; it just wasn't something I thought about. I never really even had a pregnancy scare… but if I did, I knew I'd have nine months to get used to the idea. Getting to know Charlotte over these past few months, especially the last six weeks, it…it's been wonderful. I want her to know who I am, to be a part of my life, but the concept of being a mother is both foreign and terrifying. I don't want to totally screw it up."

Castle stepped up and placed a gentle hand on her right shoulder, giving it a little rub as he spoke. "This isn't an all or nothing situation here, Kate. You can ease in—be a mother in training. I'd be happy to help."

In the reflection of his smile, one slowly grew across her lips. "I think you'll have to. You can…tutor me or something."

"Sure."

She rubbed her hands over her face and then looked up at him, the seasoned father with years of parenting under his belt. She felt like the new pitcher that had been accidently deposited onto a major league team instead of cutting his teeth in the minors. "You're okay with this? Me…invading your family."

"Invading?" His brow wrinkled at the word and then he shook his head almost as though pushing the notion away. "The way I see it: we are family. I mean, the last few weeks have been nice, right? Playing games, sharing meals…"

"Yes, absolutely." She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, trying to decide the best way to voice the variety of ideas bouncing around inside her head. "I would…Assuming you're okay with it, I would like my father to meet her and for him to have a chance to be part of her life, too. I think he'd really like that."

"Have you told him anything yet?"

Kate half-groaned at the idea, particularly since her father did not even know she donated her eggs, and she wasn't even sure how aware he was of the large sum of money she deposited into their accounts as he'd been too preoccupied to care much of about finances back then. "No, no; I wanted to know for sure before I went into any explanations."

He nodded and slipped his hands down into his pockets. "Well, yes that's absolutely okay with me. The more the merrier!"

"I guess that circles us back to explaining to Char who he is…who I really am. You're right; she's far too young to understand any sort of explanation we could give."

Castle thought for a moment, then nodded his head when an idea came to him. "Well, okay, so how about…how about: let's just keep doing what we've been doing. We'll take some baby steps forward while you get comfortable with this whole thing and we let the shock really settle in. Then we'll build up to you spending time alone with Charlotte when you're ready."

That idea filled Kate's belly equally with nerves and excitement. "Okay. I can handle that."

"I can also contact my lawyer and have him start working on adoption papers."

Kate was so shocked by Castle's suggestion, she actually took a half-step away from him. "A-Adoption?"

He nodded. "So you have legal parental rights."

"Oh—you don't have to…I mean I wasn't expecting…Sorry! I…I guess I never thought that far ahead…" She wrung her hands together nervously as she stared at him, not sure of what else to say. She truly had never once thought about the legalities of her relationship with Charlotte. Truly, the furthest her musings had gone was the girl calling her "Mom" and perhaps teaching her to ice skate as her mother had once done for her.

Appearing as nonplussed as ever, the writer shrugged. "No pressure."

She took a moment to think through the situation but found her head swimming with so many different thoughts and potential changes she struggled to separate and think through just one. As legally adopting Charlotte was a very serious situation, Kate did not want to jump into anything without full consideration, even if it was most likely a direction they would end up heading. Instead, she suggested. "Can we—can we just table the adoption for now and just focus on this?" she said, gesturing towards the paper that now lay on her table.

"Sure; absolutely. Speaking of—we will need to tell Alexis and my mother."

"Of course."

He smiled. "Okay."

"Okay." She gave a soft smile, then quickly added, "For the record: I know I probably seem a bit hesitant and overwhelmed, but I am very happy about this." Truly, she was. After getting to know Charlotte as well as she had, and with the conclusions they had admittedly jumped into, not being Charlotte's mother would have been a true blow. Now, she would get to be in her daughter's life, and Charlotte wouldn't have to live any longer without a mother.

"I am too. And for the record: feeling hesitant and overwhelmed are totally fair emotions right now."

"Right," she said with a breathy laugh.

"Hey." To call her attention, he reached out and tapped the underside of her chin with his index finger. Then, after flashing one of his classic, dopey smiles, he said, "This is going to be great."

"Yeah," she sighed, "I really hope it is."

* * *

Kate let out a mild groan as she stepped off the elevator and into the hallway. Though her salvation was in sight, she could hardly see straight from the searing pain burning up and down her arms, but she refused to relent. Charlotte had fallen asleep on her for the very first time, and that made her happier than she could ever express; she simply needed to get used to lugging around a toddler.

"You still doin' okay?"

Kate looked over at the writer and could do little more than nod, despite his amused smirk. To his credit, he had offered to carry Charlotte several times and she had been the one to refuse. Her stubborn streak had flared up and she felt she needed to be the one to carry their little girl to bed, even if she feared she'd never be able to use her arms again—at least not for several hours, anyway.

"Seriously—I can take her; we're nearly there."

"No, no." Kate grunted again. "I'll make it."

She walked as quickly as her legs would carry her towards Castle's front door, which he hastily unlocked. Kate found herself nearly smiling with relief until her eyes fell on the apartment's stairs. Somehow, she had completely forgotten about the fact that she had to ascend to the second floor before she could put Charlotte down. She had managed the subway stairs without too much trouble, but that was several blocks ago, before ever muscle fiber in her upper body felt as though it was aflame.

"Kate just-"

"I got it," she immediately curtailed what she believed to be yet another attempt at assistance from Castle, but she was fully entrenched in Stubborn Kate Beckett mode and nothing would stop her. She took two quick breaths at the bottom of the stairs, braced her abs, and then began the ascent. It wasn't as bad as she anticipated until Charlotte rolled her head and displaced her center of gravity slightly. She felt her body listing to the left and feared she would lose her balance, but a moment later Castle's hands were on her hips steadying her.

At the top of the stairs, she nearly ran to Charlotte's room. When she finally placed the girl gently atop her mattress, she sunk down to the floor and let her arms flop down at her sides, feeling tears welling up at the relief of tension. She took a minute to recover then stood up, shaking out her arms as she did so. Turning around, she spotted Castle gazing at her proudly from the bedroom door. He gave her a thumbs up and said, "Good job, Mom."

She laughed and went to cover her face with her hands, but found she was unable to make her elbows bend. Half groaning and laughing, she continued to shake them out until the pain began to dissipate. "Thanks. What, um, what do we do with her, um…" She gestured towards the fully dressed girl and Castle stepped forward.

"I can change her."

"No—I mean, I'd like to help."

"Okay. Start with her shoes and I'll grab the jammies."

Once again, she knelt on the floor beside her daughter's bed and un-did the Velcro on her pink sneakers. When she noticed a few blades of grass clinging to the top of her white socks, Kate smiled and brushed them away, recalling fondly all the memories they had made that afternoon.

A week earlier, Kate had been browsing the websites she frequented in search of activities in and around New York and had ventured into the "Kids and Family" section for one of the first times. As she was still getting to know Charlotte's likes and dislikes, she generally differed to Castle to come up with their activities (and, frankly, he was so overzealous about it, he probably would have beaten her to the planning anyway). One of the top listings had been a live "concert" for songs from one of the educational programs she recognized as Charlotte's favorite. She texted Castle about the idea and he agreed excitedly; thus, their plans were set.

That day was not the first the three of them spent together outside of the loft, but the first she felt truly responsible for since she had been the one to suggest it. When they arrived at the park and spread out their blanket, Charlotte found a few kids her age to run around with and had, at one point, come back with only one shoe on. Castle then ran around trying to find her missing sneaker for several minutes trying to find it, but ultimately did. When the concert started, Charlotte sat on the blanket between them, cheering and singing along with the songs.

Since the concert ended rather late in the afternoon, Castle suggested grabbing dinner out to continue their time together. Charlotte was all too excited to place an order from the kids' menu _and_ get to use crayons on her placemat, which, as she pointed out, she was never allowed to do at home. The restaurant was surprisingly busy and their meal ran late, so by the time they got on the crowded subway, the little girl was very tired. Since space was limited, Kate held her on her lap while Castle stood in front of them, and that's when Charlotte had fallen asleep. Kate hadn't minded that at all even despite her arm pain. It was simply another motherly experience she could add to her mental list and for that she was never more grateful.

"Okay, ready for these?"

Kate turned to see Castle held blue leggings and a yellow sleep shirt. She looked cautiously from them, to Charlotte, and then back. "I…I'm going to wake her if I put her in those."

"You won't; trust me." He assured her. She stared at him with an uncertain expression, so he gave the clothes a little shake and said encouragingly, "C'mon; I'll talk you through it. Pants first."

Following Castle's instruction, Kate removed Charlotte's jeans and then wiggled her into the leggings. As difficult as that seemed at the time, she soon realized it was a breeze when she tried to take the girl's shirt off, struggling with holding up her head and upper body while also pulling off the garment. Putting the new shirt on went more smoothly, but only just. "Oh my god—why is this so hard?" She grumbled when she thought she was done only to realize the back of the shirt was still mostly up around Charlotte's shoulders, so she once again had to wiggle it down.

"Because you never got used to putting clothes on an infant," Castle said wisely.

Kate nearly shivered at that mental image. "God; I'd be horrible at that."

"Actually its easier because they're smaller. Ah, there; perfect," he said when she lifted Charlotte's legs enough to slide her under the sheet.

After fully covering her daughter, Kate spun around, feeling entirely disheveled. "I think I'm sweating."

Castle laughed before reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. "Sounds about right. C'mon—there's a celebratory drink downstairs with your name on it."

"Celebratory?"

"Yeah; you just earned a parenting badge: changing a sleeping kid into PJs."

She smiled as they walked together towards the stairs. "Well, I guess I can drink to that."

He grabbed them two beers, removed their tops, and then handed one to her. After they clinked the necks of the bottles together, they both drank and leaned against the kitchen island counter. "Today was fun," Castle said with a certain twinkle in his eye.

She nodded, whole-heartedly agreeing. "Today was great. It was... surprising but in the best ways. I was nervous about this—way more than I let on."

"Why?"

"Because it was my idea. I suggested the concert, so if she didn't have fun I would…" She traced her finger down the beer bottle and shrugged. "I don't know, feel bad, feel like I wasn't any good at this."

"You are." He promised her.

She nodded. "I'm trying to get there, but days like today, I really feel successful. I mean, I'm completely exhausted, but I can't wait to do it again."

He grinned. "Sounds about right."

She reached out and put her hand gently on his forearm, saying, "Thank you...for everything."

He quirked his lips to the side, "What are partners for?"

Kate felt her heart swell inside her chest at the use of the word "partners" for that is truly what they had become over the prior few weeks, ever since receiving the official DNA results. For nearly a year they had worked together on her cases and had grown progressively closer as colleagues and then friends, but she was finally ready to acknowledge that an even deeper connection had been brewing beneath the surface, particularly since the idea that Charlotte was her child had come to light.

In the weeks since that bombshell, they had begun to form not just a partnership, but a family. They were working towards the common goal of giving Charlotte the best life possible. They shared laughs, tears, and she knew in the coming months they would share milestones as well. In that moment, it was clear to her they needed to do so as a couple.

With their already close proximity, it did not take much for Kate to lean in and press her lips gently against Castle's. She felt him kiss her back for a moment, and when they separated, she asked softly, "Was that okay?"

He nodded, looking surprised but not at all unhappy. "Y-yeah. Definitely."

"Okay." She placed her drink down on the counter and waited for him to do the same before she slid her hands up his arms where they met behind his neck. Using that position as leverage, she pulled his mouth down to hers in their first real kiss. She parted her lips, drew him in, and mewed softly at the wonderful feeling of his mouth against hers; it was just as good as she hoped it would be.

"Mmm Kate. Hold on." He grabbed her hips and took a half step back so he could look her in the eye as he spoke. "I…I just want to be clear about something. If we do this, I don't want it to be just a one-time thing."

"It's not." She promised with she shake of her head. Even if Charlotte hadn't been her daughter—even if they'd never even thought to check—she was certain that she and Castle would have ended up in that place. She probably had been for a while, though truthfully she had not entirely realized it until her father broached the subject during their conversation about Charlotte. That was when she took a long hard look at their relationship and realized that he had become someone she trusted and counted on without ever realizing. He was kind, and sweet, and perhaps a little crazier and excitable than someone she would have normally fallen for, but what did that matter? He made her happy. He made their daughter happy. And the more she thought about it she could no longer imagine her life without him.

"I—I know we didn't go about any of this in the traditional way, but I really want to see if we can make this work; if we can be a real family."

He smiled and moved his hands, so they were linked together at the small of her back. "Good."

"Yeah?"

He drew her in a little closer and nodded. "I thought you were extraordinary from the moment we met, even before we knew about Charlotte. And after we found out…well, this whole thing feels a little bit like fate."

Kate felt her heart stutter in her chest at his final word. I didn't surprise her that he would bring up something like that, but yet she wasn't sure she could outright agree. Before meeting Richard Castle she would have refuted the fact that such a concept as fate existed with her last breath. Now, she still wasn't sure she believed, but she had a harder time denying the existence of a higher power guiding them towards each other, especially with everything that happened between them. Still, she was not outright ready to admit that, so she merely rose up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss.

He hummed happily and promised her, "This is absolutely what I want, Kate."

"Me too." Then, with that, she rose up on her toes and brought their lips together again, knowing that night was very likely the beginning of the next, and most wonderful, chapter in her life.

* * *

"Mommy?"

Kate opened her eyes to see that Charlotte was now sitting on the couch beside her. She gazed down to make sure the baby was still positioned correctly on her chest and he was, so she let out a relieved breath. She must have briefly nodded off after she finished nursing, which she had not intended to do, but was not surprising since the prior night had not been very restful.

"Yes sweetie? Did you need something?"

Charlotte shook her head and then leaned down to get a good look at the baby nuzzled into her chest. "Is Jake ever going to get any bigger?"

Kate almost laughed at the six-year-old's observation. "Jake is getting bigger, sweetie; you just can't quite see it yet." In fact, a growth-spurt was believed to be the source of Jake's fussing and restlessness from the prior two nights. At least, that's what her husband, the three-time father deduced.

Charlotte gazed at her with the curious brown eyes that so closely matched her own. "Are you sure?"

Kate hummed and brushed her hands down her son's back. "Mmhmm. See these newborn jammies—they used to fit him with room to spare and now look how stretched they are across his feet. I doubt we'll get him in them next week."

All things considered, her pregnancy went very well, and she was expecting to go into labor around her due date—until she woke up with searing back pain when she was thirty-eight weeks and two days along. For a little while she thought it was just another fun symptom of the fact that her belly was nearly at maximum occupancy, but then an hour later her water broke, and twelve hours after that Jake arrived at a petite six-and-a-half pounds, but he was absolutely, utterly perfect.

Charlotte gave a rather dramatic shrug and said, "He still looks little to me."

"Hmm well why don't you come sit here with us while he naps, okay?"

Charlotte grabbed the tablet she was using to watch one of her educational TV shows and brought it over to the couch, where she lay with her head against Kate's thigh. Kate feathered her hands through the girl's chocolate-brown locks, dropped a kiss onto her sleeping son's head, and relaxed her head back against the sofa once again.

Kate knew that if four years earlier someone would have told her that she would have been there in that exact moment with her children surrounding her, she certainly would have thought them insane. Though she and Castle were investigative partners at that point, she was not yet thinking about him romantically and she had been far too focused on her career to picture her life as a wife or mother, but in that moment she knew things had happened exactly as they were meant to.

Though they had more than a few rough patches at first, by the time they had been together romantically for six months, Kate already knew that their family was the one she would have forever. Around that time, he surprised her by inviting her to move in with them, and though it was far sooner than she normally would have expected, she was already spending almost all of her time with them anyway, so it only made sense. After they married, they intended to wait before having another child together, but then Jake had come along as a very welcome but unexpected addition. The weeks since he had been born had been both the happiest and most exhausting of her life, but she loved her husband and her children more with each passing day.

"Oh man—it is freezing out there!"

"Daddy!" Charlotte cheered when her father returned home from his shopping trip.

Kate cradled Jake to her chest as tightly as she could while standing up from the couch. He snuffled and grumbled in his sleep, but did not fully wake, so she smoothed her hand over his back as she followed her daughter into the hall. "So you're saying it's a good idea we chose to stay behind?" she asked, jokingly.

"Definitely. I miss anything good while I was gone?"

"Not really."

"Daddy," Charlotte began after she gazed into his shopping bags and found nothing that took her immediate interest, "was I ever as little as Jake?"

Castle grinned down at her and promised, "You absolutely were, bug. You were a little bit bigger than Jake when you were born, but you were definitely my tiny, adorable little bug."

"That's crazy!" Charlotte proclaimed, and both parents laughed.

"I suppose it is," Castle said, "Now why don't you come here and help me put these bags away?"

"Okay!"

While she skipped her way into the kitchen, Castle pressed his lips against Kate's temple and said, "If you want to nap, I can take him."

She shook her head and said, "It's fine; I know you're tired too."

"But I can have as much caffeine as I want."

"True…but I'm okay. I'll let you know."

"Okay." He agreed, before following Charlotte into the kitchen.

Kate hung back and watched father-and-daughter interact while cradling her son. Jake snuffled again and snuggled deeper against he chest and she smiled; she really did love her life.

* * *

**A/N**: Thank you all so, so so much for your support for this story- i really appreciate it

For those of you who didn't already figure it out - this story was inspired by a news article that i found on twitter, about a woman who was in a relationship with another woman and had a child through a sperm donor. Thanks to those online DNA websites, her daughter found her biological father and the woman took her daughter to meet the father. by that point she had ended her relationship with the other woman and ultimately fell in love with her daughter's father. So that's where the inspiration came from, but of course i had to Caskett-ize it :)

Again, thanks for reading and reviewing. Be on the lookout for a new ficlet sometime soon!


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